ASSESSMENTS
Israel Confronts Its Changing Demographics
Apr 23, 2018 | 08:00 GMT
![Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road as they take part in a demonstration against army conscription on March 8, 2018 in Jerusalem.](https://worldview.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/styles/2x1_full/public/display-israel-haredi-jews-042018-gettyimages-929315130.jpg?itok=ukZ3YT4c)
Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road as they take part in a demonstration against army conscription on March 8, 2018 in Jerusalem. In September 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Haredi youth must serve in the country's military.
(AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)
Highlights
- As Israel hits 70, its shifting demographic composition could strain the country's already contentious social situation, undermining its security.
- High birth rates among the Israeli Bedouin and Haredi populations stand to have a more profound effect on the country's economic and diplomatic future than will the changing ratio of Arab Palestinians to Israeli Jews within the borders of the former British Mandate for Palestine.
- Unless the two groups adapt their opposing cultural, educational and social outlooks, they could undermine Israel's economic and strategic strength.
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